- 31 July 2025
It was with sadness that we were informed of the death on 16 July of our colleague, the distinguished architectural historian Andrew Saint. A meticulous researcher, with a zeal for interrogating primary sources and challenging accepted norms and truisms, Andrew was a model professional. As a writer, he was blessed with a lucid and engaging prose style. His first major publication, on the great Victorian architect Richard Norman Shaw, was published by the Paul Mellon Centre (PMC) in 1976 (revised 2010). Other stand-out publications included Image of an Architect (1983); Towards a Social Architecture: The Role of School-Building in Post-War England (1987); and Architect and Engineer: A Study in Sibling Rivalry (Yale University Press 2007), for which he received a publication grant from the PMC. Also, in 2004, he co-edited St Paul’s: The Cathedral Church of London, a magisterial tome detailing the cathedral’s history from 604 to the present day. Andrew’s final book, Waterloo Bridge and London River: Investigations and Reflections, is to be published by Lund Humphries in November 2025, a fitting tribute to his enduring love of London, and its built environment.
From 1974 to 1986 Andrew was employed as architectural editor of The Survey of London, the monumental series of volumes that was to play such a significant role in his future professional life. From 1986 he was engaged as a historian for Historic England, before taking up a post teaching architectural history at the University of Cambridge, where he was appointed Professor in the department in 1995. In 2006 he returned to work full-time on The Survey of London. At that time, The Survey moved its base to the University of London, with the PMC, under the aegis of Yale University, acting as publisher. Here, Andrew’s leadership and editorial role was vital, as was his role as author, notably in the volumes Battersea (2013), South-East Marylebone Part II (2017, with Philip Temple and Colin Thom) and Oxford Street (2020).
A member and Honorary Patron of the Architectural Historians of Great Britian, Andrew was also for decades a leading light in the Victorian Society ("Vic Soc"), safeguarding and campaigning on behalf of Victorian and Edwardian heritage, where he served as a member, Trustee and Chair of the Buildings and Publications committees, as well as editor of many Vic Soc publications. He was also in recent years a valued member of the Advisory Council of the PMC. Here and elsewhere, Andrew loved to chat, exchanging views and opinions on a broad range of topics with verve and, invariably, a winning smile. He had an abiding interest in the world around him, not least the intellectual sphere, frequently asking friends and colleagues "what are you doing at the moment?", and more importantly "are you enjoying it?".
Andrew’s Richard Norman Shaw will shortly be made available digitally on Yale University Press’s Art&Architecture e-portal.